THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

Each young woman who is deeply in love with her soul mate has one Big Dream: sharing her life, her plans and her family with the man she wants to grow old with. Sandra couldn't. This young, lovely woman with the sweetest smile, this wife, mother, friend and artist I deeply admire (she has been one of my Artist Interviews) has recently lost her soul mate, the love of her life, her husband, best friend and father to their 5-year-old boy to cancer. 

Duarte was only 40 years young when cancer ripped him out from Sandra's and their little son's life after a short battle against the disease. Just before Christmas. Dreams broken. A young mother left with the greatest grief imaginable (if ever we can imagine it), devastated emotionally, and left with a small son and without a fixed income. In the darkest moment of grief, Sandra has to face the enormous burden of being without the financial means to ensure her and her little boy an income. Sandra is a wonderful ceramic artist, and her only source of income is her Etsy shop Azulado. Portugal, a country going through a deep financial crisis, isn't able to grant a young widow financial support. At least not yet, not now, not in this very moment of desperate need. 

Sandra is a member of a wonderful Team on Etsy, the European Street Team. This wonderful Team has joined hands to support Sandra in this moment of desperate need, which we cannot even imagine in its sheer cruelty. Over 50 of Sandra's team mates have donated their handmade work, which is going for the prizes you can win in a raffle organized by the Team. Each ticket in this raffle costs only 5$ (about 4€)! The more tickets are sold, the more financial support will go to Sandra and her little son! Each and every penny from the sale of the tickets will go to Sandra and her little son. Other ways to join this wonderful act of kindness are buying a piece of handmade ceramic art from Sandra's shop Azulado, or sharing this initiative on any social network or your blog. Please read the details here. We cannot take away Sandra's pain, but we can take away some of her worries, helping her out in these first terrible moments. You can read Sandra's moving words on her blog, where she shares her pain and the inner joy the love she is feeling from her unknown friends is bringing into her heart, giving her new hope and light in these dark moments.

My heartfelt thanks to the Etsy European Street Team for this amazing initiative of love and support (I am very proud to be a part of this great Team!), and to all of you who can contribute. THANK YOU.